Lynel boi chapter 2: Hoz and Robbie
Link stared at his reflection in Lake Kolomo for a long time, getting used to his new features. This form had a strange, powerful litheness to it.
The water rippled, distorting the reflection. Link huffed. Maybe he was lingering on his new appearance too much, but it wasn’t every day you suddenly turned into a Lynel!
It was raining now. The soft patter of raindrops against the surface of the water and stones was calming to him. It was quieter against the grass. Link lifted his face to feel the water streaming through his fur, cleaning him. The water was cold, chilling him to his bones. Link shivered.He needed to get help, he couldn’t stay in this form forever, that would be dangerous and boring. He wouldn’t be able to talk to anyone! He wouldn’t be able to climb or fly through the air with his paraglider! Screw this.
Link stood from where he had been crouching, startling some nearby birds into flight. Link roared for extra effect in case anyone was watching. He started pacing back and forth. As much as he hated it, he needed to make a plan. First, how was he going to approach someone without scaring them into running away? Second, how was he going to convey the fact he was indeed their hero, the one they all practically worshipped? Third, how was he going to get out of this body? He could figure that last one out by talking to Purah, Zelda, and possibly the old constructs.
Link racked his brain for ideas. Hmmm. Wait. Had Kilton known what the mask would do? Anger flared deep in Link's stomach. No, no, that would have to have been the strange man who had given Kilton the mask in the first place. ‘I’ll find that man…’ Link thought to himself, though he wasn’t sure what exactly he’d do to the mask maker after locating him.
Alright, back to the task at hand, he needed to find people. Lookout Landing was full of people! Maybe he could catch a traveler on their way to the settlement and… and do what? Flap his arms around until they understood what he meant? Write, he could write. He’d have to wait until the rain ended before he did so though, otherwise, he would ruin the paper.
Link decided to calm down by hunting; he needed to practice that in this form anyway, since he might be in it for a while. There was a band of red bokoblins and one silver following their boss around in this area, and it was on the way to Lookout Landing. He charged in that direction, surprised at just how fast he was, faster than the average Lynel to be sure. He passed ruins, trees, and fields of flowers. He splashed through puddles. The water soaked his underbelly.
Link spotted the bokoblins right before he reached them. He dealt with the bokoblins swiftly, offing them with quick swings of his claymore fused with a black moblin horn. He looted the bodies, breaking their horns off and ripping them open for their guts.Link used the rain and a rag from the Sheikah Slate to clean the blood off his hands, then made his way toward Lookout Landing again.
The rain faded as Link walked across the field. He wasn’t in a rush, just trotting along, appreciating the scenery. He admired the distant mountains he knew so well, the shiny blades of grass surrounding him, and the fluffy pale clouds in the sky.
He spotted the settlement - not the tower there; that was easy to see even in another region - about a half a mile off into the distance. He slowed his pace and crouched down on all six, staying close to the ground, he didn’t want to startle anyone. He prowled closer. He smelled two different people, but he couldn’t discern who they were. One smelled of metal and smoke; the other of apples, blood, and wood.
Wait. Why was he acting like this was a hunt? Link stood up, put his hands on his hips, and strutted toward the two figures over the next hill.It was Robbie and Hoz.
“Well h**l,” Robbie said, jaw dropping at the sight of Link. Robbie was one of the more renowned scientists of Hyrule; he was also a very short Sheikah man with a comical white haircut and a fun personality.
Hoz tensed immediately and pointed his spear directly at Link’s heart. During Link’s first adventure, he had looked up to Hoz; all the while, Hoz had been looking up to him. He was - usually - a few inches taller than Link, though while Link was like this he was about a two fifths Links height. Hoz had tan skin, a nice goatee, and a shiny helmet.
Link waved, he also tried to say, ‘Hey guys, it’s just me,’ but instead all that came out was a weird mix of a mewl and a grumble.
“Did… did that Lynel just… wave?” Hoz’s spear lowered a few inches, and Link took that as an invitation to take a few steps closer. Hoz raised his spear again.
Link stood there, giving them a few minutes to study him. He felt their gaze dissect every inch of him.
“Those scars…” Robbie said, eyes trailing over Link’s body, “I know those scars… Link…?”
Link nodded vigorously, walking forward again; he produced the Sheikah Slate as more proof, waving at them.
This time, they approached him as well, cautiously, as you couldn’t just upend an entire life of learning that Lynels were dangerous. But it was still a win.
Link knelt and lowered his head so that he was almost eye level with Robbie. “Mew,” he said in a very serious tone.
Robbie grinned, then spun to face Captain Hoz. “I-”
“No, absolutely not,” Hoz said, giving Robbie a look and thumping the butt of his spear against the ground. At first, Link thought he was denying Link's identity, until the next words exited Hoz’s mouth, “You are NOT experimenting on him. He’s still a person.”
“I’d be trying to help him get back to his usual form!” Robbie exclaimed, tossing his hands in the air, “Not torturing him like a madman!”
“No,” Hoz said stubbornly. “It doesn’t matter what you say because it’s Link’s choice anyway.”
They turned to face him. Link scooted closer to Hoz.
“Dang it.” Robbie didn’t seem entirely disappointed, he actually looked quite happy. He patted Link’s nose. “I’m assuming you need to talk to Purah and Zelda about this?” Link nodded.
“Good,” the strange little man said, “Hoz, I need to go talk to the guards at Lookout Landing and let them know Link is like this; you keep him company.”
“Because I,” Robbie said, “want to see the looks on those fools' faces.” Robbie suantered of toward the settlement, whistling to himself.
“They’re not fools!” Hoz called after Robbie, not sounding entirely offended, “They’re good men!”
Once Robbie had disappeared into the small fortress, they both looked to each other.
Hoz relaxed visibly and slapped Link on the shoulder, “Hey, I know this must be weird for you, being in a new body and all… so, are you okay?”
Link thought for a moment. It wasn’t the first time he’d felt like this; the first time had been much worse. He’d remembered waking up in the shrine of resurrection without knowing who or what he was; he hadn’t even known how to speak and had had trouble breathing. He’d remembered feeling scared of gravity, and the ability to touch, that is, until he found out he could throw things. He’d loved doing that.Link nodded, yes, he was fine. He posed dramatically for extra effect. Hoz chuckled, eyes twinkling with mirth.
“Liiiiink!” a voice called out from the direction of Lookout Landing. Josha entered view. She was carrying two books and some papers under one arm while she waved frantically with the other, some of the papers started to scatter to the wind, and Josha cursed, skidding to a stop and swiping at them. She looked like a kitten trying to catch a string far out of her reach.
Link huffed, tromping over and snatching the parchments out of the wind's grasp. He looked at the papers for a second before handing them over to Josha. They looked like pages copied - Josha would never damage a book by ripping out the pages - from old writings about artifacts and legends. One had a picture of some strange diamond-shaped amulet.
“Thank you!” Josha said, wide-eyed and staring into his soul. Josha - like Robbie - was a sheikah scientist and Purah’s assistant. She had apparently heard the news, immediately snatched her notes, and took off. “These notes,” she said, holding up the papers as Hoz approached, “are records of artifacts and spells that can change someone's form, and these,” she gestured to the books under her arm, “are stories and fairy tales about that kind of thing.”
“I highly doubt fairy tales are going to help Link at the moment.” Hoz said, looking concerned.
“They might!” Josha stomped her foot, “Link confirmed that Koroks, fairies, and dragons are real! And Link was a fairy tale himself at one point!”
“Koroks aren’t…” he looked hesitantly over to Link, who nodded. “H*ll.”
Josha giggled, happy that she’d won an argument with an adult.
“You two figure out what happened, while I rethink my life,” Hoz said, walking off and settling down to sit on a rock about five paces away from Link.
“So,” Josha said in her serious tone, “was it an object or a spell? Do you even know?”
Link nodded, then cupped his large hands together and covered his face, then lowered his Hands and made a ‘poof’ noise he was quite proud of.
“You were having a mental breakdown, and then suddenly you were a Lynel?” Josha guessed, “That's weird.”
Link stared at her, then slowly shook his head.
“You sure? Cuz I’m pretty sure it’s weird.”
Link shook his head more vigorously.
“No, you weren’t having a mental breakdown?”
Link nodded. Goddesses, not everyone thinks he's that fragile, do they?
Link made the motions of cupping his hands and holding them up to hide his face again.
“You were washing your face in weird water?” Josha guessed, hopeful. Link gave her the signal that, no, that wasn’t it.
Josha sighed, “We may need Purah’s help; she’s better at charades than me.”
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